| SYNTHESIS |
A general catalyst for the asymmetric Strecker reaction has been identified from a combinatorial library. The Strecker reaction is widely used to prepare derivatives of -amino acids. Enantioselective variants of the reaction have been the goal of much research in asymmetric synthesis, including that in the lab of author. Author has demonstrated that the compound shown (X = O; R = C6H5) can catalyze the asymmetric Strecker reaction in solution for a wide range of aromatic and aliphatic imines. For many substrates, enantiomeric excesses exceed 90%. An analog bound to a resin (X = S; R = polystyrene) gives 2 to 4% lower enantiomeric excesses but can be recycled up to 10 times without loss of activity or enantioselectivity.
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